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Sir Bill Browder, who once ran the biggest investment portfolio in Russia, gives his unique insight into the Russian leader.
The war in Iran is good news for Russia and Vladimir Putin (Image: Getty)
Vladimir Putin will be rubbing his hands together with glee and wanting to keep the war raging in Iran for as long as possible to fund his invasion of Ukraine, claims Russia's former biggest foreign investor.
Sir William "Bill" Browder is an American-British financier who once ran the largest foreign investor portfolio in Russia until it was turned upon by Putin's regime.
Sir Bill went on to push for the Magnitsky Act, a law to punish Russian human rights violators, after his friend and colleague Sergei Magnitsky was arrested by Putin's goons and later died in prison. The Act was signed into law in 2012 by US President Barack Obama.
"Putin is hugely benefitting from this war and will do anything he can to help Iran keep it going," Sir Bill told the Daily Express, "This includes providing targeting information to the Iranians to use against US soldiers. What’s remarkable is that this is well known and Trump doesn’t seem bothered by it."
"The war in Iran is a huge net benefit to Putin. First is the oil price. He gets most of his money from the sale of oil and the higher oil price gives him cash he was so desperate for to produce drones, pay soldiers and carry on with his invasion.
"Second is the easing of sanctions. Before the war, he was forced to sell his oil at a discount because of sanctions. Now that they are lifted, he experiences no discount, which means even more money in his coffers.
"Third is the supply of US weapons. Now that the US is deep into battle, they will be hoarding weapons that used to be sold to Ukraine which means less or no defensive missiles like Patriots and Himars."
Explosions in the Iranian capital Tehran from US and Israeli strikes (Image: Getty)
The Kremlin's tentacles have expanded to sharing satellite imagery and drone technology to help target US, British and allied forces in the region. Iran has already been a close partner in Putin's four-year-long invasion of Ukraine, providing the deadly Shahed drones which the Kremlin has used to pummel civilian targets.
Global oil prices have soared after Iran began attacking oil and gas infrastructure in neighbouring Gulf states in retaliation for US and Israeli strikes. The crucial Strait of Hormuz, which carries around 20% of global oil tanker traffic, has also been shut down due to the threat of Iranian attacks on shipping.
Higher oil prices benefit Russia which will use the increased revenues from selling its natural resources to countries like China, India and Turkey to fund the war in Ukraine. At the same time, the US Treasury last week issued a 30-day pause on sanctions on Moscow oil and gas sales, allowing Putin to sell oil that was already loaded on tankers.
Sir Bill, whose Magnitsky Act principles have also been adopted by the UK for sanctions against regimes, added that in Ukraine the war in Iran could prove a double-edged sword.
Sir Bill Browder knows a thing or two about how the Kremlin operates (Image: Getty)
He said: "With Russia on the economic rebound from oil, it’s a big net negative for Ukraine. But there’s one big benefit of this war which isn’t talked about much.
"Now that Trump is consumed by the war in Iran, he will have less bandwidth to focus on his 'peace proposals' which are just capitulation proposals in disguise.
"The most shocking has been the push for Ukraine to give up territory that Russia has not won in battle. The less the US puts pressure on Ukraine, the more likely Ukraine can continue to push back against Russia successfully."
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) revealed this week British RAF and Royal Navy forces had shot down 40 Iranian drones so far across the Middle East.
Sir Bill noted: "The main thing we are learning is that warfare has now fundamentally changed. Drones completely alter the balance of power in modern warfare and countries that appeared to be superpowers are now hamstrung by much weaker countries who have 20,000 drones. This will fundamentally change the way militaries prepare for future wars."
Since cutting ties with Russia, Sir Bill now relentlessly campaigns for human rights and uses his significant knowledge of Russian affairs to call out Putin and his tactics in Ukraine and now Iran. It's widely been reported Russia has been sharing intelligence with and military cooperation with Iran since the war began between the Islamic Republic and the US and Israel on February 28.
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